Healthcare

Swisslog, a leader in automated material transport systems for the healthcare industry, has developed the TransLogic pneumatic tube system (PTS), a total system solution that meets the unique material transport requirements of hospitals. Renowned for reliability, TransLogic pneumatic tube systems transport carriers at speeds up to 25 feet per second with payloads of up to 15 lbs. In addition, TransLogic pneumatic tube systems continue to innovate in response to the demanding needs of hospitals.

Mercy Memorial Hospital broke ground on a $60 million expansion of its Ardmore, Okla., hospital in January of 2008. The new wing is comprised of a five story plus basement patient tower housing 158 private rooms, an ICU, and a woman's health center. Completion is slated for June of 2010.

Quincy Medical Center completed the renovation and conversion of the Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH) in Quincy, Mass., in January of 2008. The project team for the 20,700-sf, 38-bed private room project was comprised of Needham, Mass.-based Nauset Construction and architectural firm David H. Dunlap Associates of Hanover, Mass. The multi-phased, fast-track project included renovating and converting an entire floor within Quincy Medical Center on an aggressive two month schedule with upgrades to both the electrical and HVAC systems.

Stanford Medical Center, comprised of Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, has named architects for the estimated $2 billion seismic upgrade and expansion project in Palo Alto, Calif. Lead architect Rafael Viñoly of New York will work with Burkhart, Liu Inc. of Marina del Rey on the Stanford Hospital project comprising 1.4 million-sf in new construction and including a 600-bed inpatient hospital.

Children’s Memorial Hospital will break ground in spring of 2008 on a new pediatric hospital in Chicago. The $850 million facility will be funded in part by a $100 million donation from Ann Lurie, for whom the hospital will be named. The project will feature state-of-the-art technology and equipment to support pediatric health research and treatment. Completion is slated for 2012.

BIOQUELL PLC, a UK company specializing in decontamination technology and testing/compliance services, has announced that its superbug eradication technology has been upgraded by the UK Department of Health's Rapid Review Panel (RRP) to Category One status. The RRP was set up by the Government in 2004 to facilitate the rapid review by an independent panel of leading UK infection control experts of the products and technologies which could be used to combat hospital-acquired infections, or superbugs, in National Health Service (NHS) hospitals.

Emory Healthcare and Ohio State University Medical Center (OSUMC) formed a partnership, the Alliance for Predictive and Personalized Health, in December of 2007. Initiated by Dr. Fred Sanfilippo, the chairman of Emory Healthcare and the former head of OSUMC, the initiative aims to enhance health care at the patient level with genetic breakthroughs and information technology improvements.

Texas Tech Health Sciences Center opened the 152,000-sf Physicians Medical Pavilion in Lubbock, Texas in December of 2007. The $36 million patient care and research building features 162 exam rooms and 15 procedure rooms and houses family and community medicine, internal medicine, ophthalmology, pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedic surgery, and surgery clinics. The project, which created additional space for research in the existing Health Sciences Center, involved 25,000-sf of renovation in that facility. 

Bahrain will begin construction in 2008 on the $1.6 billion Health Island. Covering 1.25-sm, the project will be built on an island of reclaimed land near Muharraq in the Gulf. Lead by the Ithmaar Development Company, the project will include leading-edge facilities for diagnostics, alternative medicine, nutrition and diabetes, aesthetic surgery, and sports medicine. Completion is expected in three to five years.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital dedicated the $134 million Chili's Care Center in Memphis in November of 2007. The seven-story, 340,000-sf facility houses an MRI and the only cyclotron dedicated to childhood cancer research. The facility features expanded programs for diagnostic imaging and bone marrow transplants; research laboratories; the department of radiation oncology; and the brain tumor program. The fourth floor of the building is unoccupied to accommodate future growth. Complete occupancy is slated for spring of 2008.

Purdue University completed the 26,000-sf LakeView Technology Center in Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Ind. in late October of 2007. The facility houses the 7,800-sf InnerVision West magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) center with a 3-Tesla scanner for research and patient care. 8,300-sf of space at the LakeView Technology Center is occupied by tenant Simulex, Inc; the building also houses a 5,500-sf restaurant and a 1,500-sf coffee shop. An additional 10,000-sf of office or laboratory space for second-stage technology companies is available.

The National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Research Resources has awarded the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center a $34-million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) to establish the North and Central Texas Clinical and Translational Science Initiative (NCTCTSI).

The NIH’s National Center for Research Resources has awarded a $33.8 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) to the University of Iowa (UI) to establish the UI Institute for Clinical and Translational Science. The five-year grant will support collaborative translational research with all eleven of the University of Iowa’s colleges and approximately 40 centers and institutes, as well as Iowa State University and the University of Arizona.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has awarded Turner Construction the $235 million contract for the second phase of the Colket Translational Research Building. The eleven-story, 423,000-sf tower will house four floors of laboratories, three floors of office space, two mechanical floors, and a support floor. The exterior enclosure, building structure, vertical transportation, and mechanical systems can be modified to support future expansion. Phased occupancy begins in 2009.

St. Joseph Hospital has completed construction of its Patient Care Center in Orange, Calif. Adding 248,000 sf to the existing hospital campus, the $203 million project was built by general contractor McCarthy of Newport Beach. The facility is part of a master plan that includes the refurbishment of the original hospital as well as a new cancer center that McCarthy is currently building.